Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM

New York state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Brennan and his counterparts in Pennsylvania and Vermont have entered into an agreement to enhance the dairy industries in all three states.

These states together make up one of the nation's three major milk producing regions. Collectively, they produce more than 25 billion pounds of milk annually — nearly 15% of the nation's total milk supply.

The agreement calls for the three states to:

• Identify and coordinate the direction, goals, and resources necessary to ensure a competitive, profitable dairy industry.

• Develop and implement cooperative programs that focus on improving dairy profitability and productivity.

• Support multi-state efforts to optimize the intellectual talent serving the dairy industry.

• Support cooperative research efforts on diverse dairy business models that will lead to increased profitability.

• Create marketing and public relations initiatives.

The pact also calls for creation of a tri-state dairy advisory board made up of representatives of each state.